Mechanical jaw spreader



Nov. 14, 1967 ABELSON MECHANICAL JAW SPREDER Filed Aug. 19, 1965 FIG-3 au15 Aas?. sa

3,352,301 Patented Nov. 14, 1967 3,352,301 MECHANICAL JAW SPREADER Louis Abelson, 585 McLean Ave., Yonkers, N.Y.

Filed Aug. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 481,029 2 Claims. (Cl. 12S-12) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE An oral device in the form of a mechanical jaw spreader. A conical body terminating in a pointed protuberance and carrying a raised rib traversing in a helical multiturn path the length of the body and terminating in a substantially rectangular tooth engaging neck portion the dimension of at least one pair of sides being substantially equal to the diameter of the last smoothly and gently rounded concave surface between adjacent reversely rounded ribs allowing the teeth to pass from the concave surface onto the fiat tooth engaging surface.

The present invention relates to an oral device and specifically to a new and improved mechanical jaw spreader which may be inserted between the teeth of the upper and lower jaw and rotated so that the jaw will be mechanically spread and the mouth progressively opened.

A problem which has long confounded both ambulance personnel and emergency crews, when attempting to render aid to blue-patients having tetanic closure of the mouth, is how and by what means may the mouth be opened when the jaws are contracted closed to provide on the spot relief. It is far from an uncommon occurrence for certain individuals to undergo a seizure due to an epileptic lit, violent shock, or other cause with the ensuing result the ndividuals teeth become tightly clenched and his mouth becomes locked due to the continued contraction of the muscles of the lower jaw. Under the circumstances, it is necessary that the individuals mouth be opened quickly so that, in the case of lockjaw, an airway tube may be inserted into the mouth and throat to reintroduce oxygen to the body or else to remove secretions or foreign bodies that may lie therein and which may chock the patient. Further, the mouth should be opened without the introduction of any undue trauma that may be brought about by breaking the patients teeth and not too infrequently the jaw, if the mouth is pried open.

The need for a device, in the form of an oral jaw spreader that may be used to open the mouth of a person suffering a seizure and provide an entrance for an airway tube, is demanded since it has been found that nasopharyngael tubes do vnot always afford a proper airway for restoring the required oxygen and tongue depressors are usually found to be ineffectual. Therefore, being alert tothe deficiency in the nasopharyngael tube as well as in the tongue depressor and being mindful of the need to not only restore oxygen to the body butvalso remove all foreign matter from the mouth, if called to do so, the present invention provides a new and improved oral device which may be easily and rapidly used on a patient suffering seizure to painlessly and effectively open his mouth for rendering immediate relief.

" Suitably, an object of this invention is to provide a new and improved jaw spreader which will operate rapidly, successfully, vand painlessly to open a contracted jaw to restore-oxygen to the body without introducing undue trauma.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a jaw spreader having a conical threaded surface characterized by a groove in the form of a smoothly and gently rounded concave surface which merges at each side thereof with a reversely rounded helically directed crest, and which thread smoothly terminates in a substantially fiat surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide a jaw spreader which is easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture, yet provides optimum results.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will readily become apparent during the course of the following description.

In a broad sense the invention is directed to a jaw spreader comprising a conically tapered portion that terminates in a substantially pointed protuberance at the cone apex for insertion between the teeth of the upper j and lower jaw. The base of the cone is bounded by a neck which forms the central part of the spreader and which has substantially flat sides with rounded corners for supporting the jaw in an open position once the teeth have tracked through a helically directed groove, presented along the length of the conical portion. The groove which begins adjacent the cone apex and ends at the neck, is formed by a smoothly and gently rounded concave surface that merges at each side thereof with the reversely rounded crest, and which groove, at its end, flows smoothly onto a at side of the neck. Connected to the other side of the neck is a means in the form of a pair of arms which provides a mechanical advantage so that the device may be rotated after insertion within the mouth to unclamp the contracted jaws of the patient.

In the accompanying drawing which both illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention and forms a part of this application and in which like numerals are used to denote like parts throughout the same,

FIGURE l is a side elevational view of the mechanical jaw spreader;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view of the jaw spreader as seen along the line 2 2 in FIG. l; and

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the jaw spreader.

The jaw spreader, as shown in the figures and generally indicated by the numeral 10, is preferably of unitary construction and formed of one of the plastic materials such as polystyrene, polypropylene, rigid polyethylene, polycarbonate, etc., which are known to be capable of undergoing a molding operation. In the preferred embodiment the jaw spreader is formed of molded polystyrene and it has been found that such material is of a suitable hardness that the spreader will withstand abuse and maintain its shape through repeated use yet not damage the patients teeth during each use. Therefore, a molded polystyrene jaw spreader, having an indentation of hardness of between 35-95 durometers (Type D Scale), will maintain for the life of the spreader a sturdy, substantially pointed and rigid tip that will easily enter between the teeth of the upper and lower jaw to partially open the mouth. Further, the polystyrene jaw spreader will present and maintain, with use, a helical threaded portion with a groove or root having a smoothly and gently rounded concave surface that merges at each side thereof with the reversely rounded crest. Also, due to the particular hardness of the polystyrene material and the configuration of the thread, the amount of trauma which may be introduced to the teeth or jaw of the patient during the threading operation, is substantially eliminated or materially reduced.

The jaw spreader comprises a neck portion 12, tapered conical portion 14, which extends axially from the neck and terminates in a rugged, pointed protuberance 16, and a gripping portion 18 in the form of a pair of wings 20 and 22, extending generally axially from the neck in a direction opposite of the tapered portion.

Formed in the spreader during the molding process and extending throughout a substantial length of the spreader is a cavity 24. Great reduction in weight accrues by providing such a cavity which, in part, provides for ease in manipulation, yet the device remains sturdy and may be operated without any hesitancy that the spreader will fracture when within the mouth due to the pressure exerted on it by the jaws.

The neck portion 12 is generally of a squared configuration with rounded corners 26. The flat portions 28 are of sufficient length (1%1" or more) to engage several teeth of the patient and may be on the order of 1/2 or more in width. The flats will be further discussedwhen reference is had more specifically to the threaded portion 14.

The gripping portion 18, as briefly referred to above, is in the form of wings and 22 which extend from opposed areas adjacent the cavity formed in the neck and tapered portion. The wings are of a size which may be firmly and positively gripped by the fingers of the hand. Due to their size, in comparison to the remainder of the spreader, a mechanical advantage is obtained so that when the spreader is partially inserted in the mouth it may subsequently be easily rotated. Therefore, the wings facilitate rotation of the spreader within the mouth.`

The wing portions 20 and 22 may be ysolid in cross-section or else formed so as to be substantially hollow to further reduce the overall weight of the spreader and provide easier handling. In the preferred embodiment the gripping portion is solid.

The conical section 14, forming a greater part of the spreader, is tapered to form an angle of from approximately -40 at the apex. Satisfactory results are derived when this angle is 33. The conicalsection is also threaded substantially along its total length. Because of this thread, which changes rotary to linear motion, the mouth is progressively opened. The thread, which is provided on the external surface of the taper during the molding operation, begins at a point adjacent the protuberance 16 so as to define a lead portion and terminates at the neck 12.

The thread is approximately 11/2 in length. In the gures it is seen that the root or grooved part of the thread is configured as a smoothly and gently rounded concave surfacewith the minor diameter of the thread, at its termination, being substantially equal to the length of the neck portion so that the terminal groove flows smoothly onto the fiat surface of they neck. Therefore, once the pointed end of the spreader is inserted between thev individuals jaws and turned to the fullest extent, the teeth which are tracking along the deep helically directed groove, will engage the flat surface immediately as they become disengaged from the groove. At this point, the mouth will be opened to a maximum, the teeth will be supported by the flat surface, and the spreader will be precluded from further rotation.

As may be apparent, by noting FIGS. 1 and 2, the thread is substantially -of a standard type but provides a wide, deep and smoothly rounded groove which is particularly suitable to carry out the desired function of opening a patients mouth when contracted. The thread is conveniently a right hand thread and of thek `single thread type. As previously mentioned, the thread begins at a point adjacent the protuberance 16, so as to provide a sharply tapered lead portion 32 which is equal in length to about one-half the pitch.

The crests 34 and grooves, in the preferred embodiment, are both of a smoothly rounded configuration and the pitch, along the length of the conical portion is on the order of 1A". The crests have a radius of approximately 1;@4. The grooves have a radius of the order of 7x54 which is sufficiently large so that little or no trauma is introduced to the teeth as the spreader is rotated'. Therefore, the grooves are of such depth and width as to accommodtae the spiral ascent of the teeth onto the smooth substantially flat surface 28.

From the foregoing it is obvious that I have developed a jaw spreader which is portable, easy to use and through the unique configuration of the threaded portion and the rugged end protuberance, will readily open a contracted jaw so that further medical assistance may be rendered. In opertaion the spreader is partially inserted between the teeth of the upper and lower jaw and rotated by means of the gripping portion. The teeth, during rotation, will follow the deep grooves and the mouth will progressively open. When the spreader is fully rotated the teeth will leave the groove of the thread and come to rest on the neck and the fiat surface formed thereon. Thereafter, the jaw spreader may be left between the jaws while an airway or similar tube is inserted in the mouth or else a jaw prop may replace the jaw spreader when the mouth is open. In either case, the jaw will remain open and immobilized so that foreign objects that cause choking may be removed from the mouth or oxygen restored to the body.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described the invention what is claimed is:

1. A jaw spreading` device comprising a substantially conical element having a sharply tapered protuberance defined by the cone apex adapted to be received between the teeth of the upper and lower jaw, a raised rib extending from a point adjacent the cone apex to the base along a substantially helical multiturn path, said conical element Wall having its surface between each turn of the helical raised rib portion in the form of a smoothly and gently rounded concave surface which merges at each side thereon with the raised reversely rounded rib, a substantially rectangular neck portion having a plurality of substantially flat opposite sides at the termination of the helical path, the dimension of one pair of sides being substantially equal to the minor diameter of the terminal concave surface so that said surface flows smoothly into said fiat side, and means to rotate the conical element whereby by positioning the cone apex between the teeth of the -upper and lower jaws of an individual the jaws are progressively spread as the teeth follow along the smoothly and gently rounded surface of the helix of the element and are rmly held in the spread position by the flattened opposite sides.

2. Thejaw spreading device as defined in claim.1 wherein thesurfaces betwen each turn of the helical raised portion are substantially uniformlyv dimensioned along the longitudinal length of the conical element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,573,923 11/1951 Mezz 128-152 FOREIGN PATENTS 26,956 12/ 1923 France.

OTHER REFERENCES Gibson Catalogue, Standard Surgical Instrument, 1924, p. 61.

V. Mueller and Co. Catalogue, Oral Instruments, 1938, p. 119.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. K., Lf HOWELL. Assistant Examiner. 

1. A JAW SPREADING DEVICE COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY CONICAL ELEMENT HAVING A SHARPLY TAPERED PROTUBERANCE DEFINED BY THE CONE APEX ADAPTED TO BE RECEIVED BETWEEN THE TEETH OF THE UPPER AND LOWER JAW, A RAISED RIB EXTENDING FROM A POINT ADAJCENT THE CONR APEX TO THE BASE ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY HELICAL MULTITURN PATH, SAID CONICAL ELEMENT WALL HAVING ITS SURFACE BETWEEN EACH TURN OF THE HELICAL RAISED RIB PORTION IN THE FORM OF A SMOOTHLY AND GENTLY ROUNDED CONCAVE SURFACE WHICH MERGES AT EACH SIDE THEREON WITH THE RAISED REVERSELY ROUNDED RIB, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR NECK PORTION HAVING A PLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE MINOR DIAMETER OF THE TERMINAL CAL PATH, THE DIMENSION OF ONE PAIR OF SIDES BEING SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE MINOR DIAMETER OF THE TERMINAL CONCAVE SURFACE SO THAT SAID SURFACE FLOWS SMOOTHLY INTO SAID FLAT SIDE, AND MEANS TO ROTATE THE CONICAL ELEMENT WHEREBY BY POSITIONING THE CONE APEX BETWEEN THE TEETH OF THE UPPER AND LOWER JAWS OF AN INDIVIDUAL THE JAWS ARE PROGRESSIVELY SPREAD AS THE TEETH FOLLOW ALONG THE SMOOTHLY AND GENTLY ROUNDED SURFACE OF THE HELIX OF THE ELEMENT AND ARE FIRMLY HELD IN THE SPREAD POSITION BY THE FLATTENED OPPOSTE SIDES. 